NRL expansion: Bears move closer to return following negotiations with Perth bid consortium

North Sydney and Western Australia’s rugby league bid are on the verge of striking a deal which will see the resurrection of the Bears as the NRL’s 18th team.

North Sydney and Western Australia’s rugby league bid are on the verge of striking a deal which will see the resurrection of the Bears as the NRL’s 18th team with the $30 million cost to be part of an expanded competition revealed.

The two parties are inching closer to an agreement after the Bears softened their list of prerequisites' in order to get a deal done. They held positive talks in Sydney last week with the Bears formalising their proposal in recent days with the Western Australian team meeting in Perth on Wednesday to discuss North Sydney’s revamped plans.

It is understood that a game at North Sydney Oval is still part of the pitch but having multiple games at the venue is no longer a non-negotiable.

Newtown Jets were the other potential partner for Western Australia although the insistence of the Bears by some of the game’s heavyweights looked to have tipped the scales in North Sydney’s favour.

It comes as Perth NRL bid consortium chairman Peter Cumins penned an open letter to Western Australian league bosses this week where he said they needed to raise $30 million to kick-start the franchise.

Club legend Greg Florimo has campaigned tirelessly to ‘Bring back the Bears’. Picture: Getty Images

“You will have seen from recent press articles that the NRL are calling for expressions of interest from bidders for the 18th license as part of the NRL expansion plans to ultimately go to a 20-team competition,” Cumins wrote. “It is expected that a successful bid will be announced towards the end of this year and that team will be playing in the 2027 season.

“The WA bid consortium will be required to raise $30 million to support the bid and to provide the NRL with a comprehensive plan…You will have seen a lot of press about a potential marriage/partnership with the Newtown Jets or North Sydney Bears.

“I can confirm that I met recently with both clubs to see if an agreement can be reached that satisfies the ambition of all stakeholders. Whatever the outcome of these discussions you can rest assured if our bid is successful, it will be a WA team that we can be proud of.”

NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo had promised to keep clubs informed on expansion and wrote to them this week to let them know that the ARL Commission had endorsed a formal plan for the addition of new teams in coming years.

The initial stage of that plan involved the board calling for expressions of interest from prospective parties, headed by the likes of Perth and Papua New Guinea.

Abdo pointed out in his email that they hoped to have the process finalised by the end of the season and that the successful entry of the Dolphins to the premiership was proof positive of the benefits of expansion.

The clubs were told that consortiums had been sent a document outlining the criteria for expansion with the commission to judge them based on their governance and ownership, their ability to be competitive, and their plans to invest in participation and pathways.

The Bears are inching closer to a return to the NRL. Picture: Tom Parrish

The NRL will also take into account infrastructure for elite pathways, financial strength and their strategic value from a broadcasting perspective.

It is understood the email from Abdo prompted a flurry of text messages between club bosses as they discussed what expansion would mean to them.

The clubs are looking for a financial uplift in return for their support for the game to expand to 20 teams.

Originally published as NRL expansion: Bears move closer to return following negotiations with Perth bid consortium